Chapter 271 Lord, Times Have Changed

This is a garbage disposal site.

Yep, it’s exactly where the chubby fellows discovered their injured member.

As the saying goes, “get back up where you fell,” Xia Xinyan’s initial plan was to deal with the trouble here.

Moreover, this place is almost at the suburb, with not many nearby residents, so creating a ruckus wouldn’t need to be too cautious.

Xia Xinyan understood well; after all, in both game and reality, all she needed to do was train Ling Mo to the brink—anything he had never encountered before would enhance his adaptability. This was beneficial for Ling Mo.

She could just sit back and relax, and it seemed this level of small scuffle wouldn’t require her to intervene.

Ling Mo wasn’t planning on letting Xia Xinyan step in either.

After all, this was a rare chance to show off in front of his girlfriend, and he was definitely going to seize it.

If it turned out that Xia Xinyan had to take action in the end, that would be embarrassing.

Well, his thinking was much like Xia Xinyan’s—concerning such trifles, he couldn’t imagine any situation he couldn’t handle.

Things developed just as they anticipated.

The Fire Cloud Cult’s high-ranking members numbered a dozen or so, mostly young punks in their twenties, all decked out like energetic youths. On a chilly spring night, more than half of them were either bare-chested or showing off tattoos, unabashedly flaunting their enhanced physiques.

You could feel the thick malice radiating from them even from far away.

Xia Xinyan stopped at the entrance of the garbage site and quietly reminded Ling Mo, “Mo Mo, don’t go too far.”

Even though it was a sparsely populated area, if he really blew this place up, it would cause her considerable trouble.

Ling Mo nodded, “Relax, I know my limits.”

He could still tell the difference between reality and game.

The group of punks in the field spotted the two and immediately approached Ling Mo. The foremost among them was a bald man with a scar on his face, sizing up Ling Mo before frowning, “So you’re Ling Mo? The freeloader? Heh, you’ve got some skills…”

Ling Mo smiled, “You’re too kind.”

“You think I’m complimenting you?” The bald guy immediately cursed, “You just latched onto a rich woman’s leg! What makes you so impressive? I see you really don’t know who you’re messing with! Since you’re bold enough to come here today, I’m feeling generous—kneel before me and knock your head three times while calling me ‘Daddy,’ and I might just let you leave whole.”

Ling Mo’s smile remained unchanged, “Seems like you’re a straightforward guy. So, let me get this straight—do you want to come one by one or all at once? I’m in a hurry.”

His attitude immediately infuriated the bald guy, who bellowed, “You’re looking for death! Let’s see if I can finish you off today!”

At that moment, the bald guy’s body rapidly transformed—the normal skin was coated with a metallic sheen, and his already shiny bald head now almost glowed in the moonlight, with metallic clanking sounds accompanying every movement.

Clearly, this guy’s abilities were also physical—one of the most direct forms of demonstrating strength, often boasting the strongest combat prowess.

Many of his lackeys also revealed their abilities, with at least half, like the bald guy, having physical powers as well. Judging by their aura, their strength was absolutely not low, even in the game.

Looking at them flaunting their power in reality didn’t seem strange at all.

After all, they certainly had the credentials to show off.

However, they had just encountered someone more ostentatious.

Ling Mo watched as they rushed toward him, and his smile showed no signs of fading. Around him began to appear countless white lines, enveloping him completely within seconds. The final manifestation was— a high-tech battle armor.

Just like Iron Man—except for the black color scheme.

This was the new thing he intended to try—the final product of the single-soldier mecha he had absorbed previously. This was also the most freakish aspect of his abilities; as long as he understood the structure of one type of item, he could manifest other creations of the same type through his powers, and even ones of different categories if the rules allowed.

For instance, manifesting a relatively enlarged mecha, or like now, creating a single-soldier battle armor.

Although this set of armor was much smaller than the original mecha, its internal real power was no less than that of the original.

In fact, it was even stronger.

The bald guy charged at him the moment he finished manifesting, raising his silver-glinted iron fist and slamming it down, the explosion of power even causing the air to let out a slight screech—

And then Ling Mo casually raised his hand to receive the blow.

He hadn’t even exerted force himself; it was the countless recoil devices on the armor’s arms doing the real work. To put it bluntly, with the strength of this armor now, he could even stop a high-speed running bullet train—but if he really did that, he would surely not come out unscathed.

But clearly, the punch from the bald guy was nowhere near as strong as a bullet train’s impact.

Seeing the fleeting look of surprise on the bald guy’s metal face, Ling Mo slowly curled his lips, “Bro, times have changed.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, all the armor panels expanded, revealing a mass of small missiles underneath, and in an instant, they launched all at once, executing a round of indiscriminate saturation strikes on all punks, including the bald guy.

While physical enhancement abilities are the most direct manifestation of power, they are no match in the face of an explosion.

If this round doesn’t wipe them out, then let’s do it again!

So, for a moment, at the garbage site entrance, Xia Xinyan bore witness to a magnificent display of fireworks.

She suddenly felt a bit relieved that Ling Mo was on her side; otherwise… even she couldn’t think of any way to defeat Ling Mo now.

Honestly, disregarding the consequences, this guy’s current power could even destroy the world—though if he really played that way, he might end up dead before the world was. But the fact was undeniable; he indeed had that power.

Even the Xia Xinyan from her previous life, if facing the Ling Mo of today, wouldn’t be sure of a hundred percent victory.

Because she discovered Ling Mo’s rate of growth could be deemed freakish—many times faster than her previous life.

It left her with rather complex feelings.

All sorts of complexities.